The Depths of the Deep Blue Ocean
by sixerine
Summary: [AU]Winter of 2072, Linalee boarded the ship, Black Order, with Allen, to travel to London. New adventure awaits for them as they discovered the owner of the ship is their long lost friend from the past…LinaleexKanda!Chapter 4 is up!please read and review
1. Aboard

**The Depths of the Deep Blue Ocean**

A/N: Ahh…. A new story at last! It came to me while I'm taking my long and never-ending showers… I was having a hard time trying to decide the pairings, so I looked around on the FF. It seemed like most people write about AllenxKanda and all these other stuff, and there's barely any LinaleexKanda… so… I decided to use this pairing. Not that I have anything against yaoi, but I can write a KandaxAllen story if you guys want. Not much AU around here either… so I decided to write the AU…. simply for my own pleasure… hehehe

There might be some slight OOC in this story… so forgive me please…

The setting of this story is taken place in the future. It's slightly based on my favorite novel series "In Death". (It gave me the idea of using future!)

Summary: AU Winter of 2072, Linalee boarded the ship, Black Order, with Allen, to travel to London. New adventure awaits for them as they discovered the owner of the ship is their long lost friend from the past…LxK

Genre: Romance, Humor, Sci Fi, Drama, Action/Adventure, etc (a mixture of everything…)

Disclaimer: Do not own D Gray Man… or part of the settings.

Read, Enjoy, and Review! XD Hope you guys like it!

* * *

**Aboard**

_The light from the cyan dawn slowly crawled across the already noisy world. Sounds of machines and the murky artificial light greet the real glow from the sun._

Beep, beep, beep…

She opened one of her eyes lazily. The alarm next to her bed read 6:00 AM. For a moment, she stayed in her spot. She raised her arms over her head and stretched. Through the dark shades in the room, Linalee can see the light. 'Another brand new day,' she thought, 'another brand new start.'

Normally, she would go downstairs, grab her breakfast, and go to work. But today is different. Today is the day where she will leave this place and go pursued her destination. London, Boston.

She got out of her bed and walked into the shower. She stripped her pajamas and stepped into the cool marble floor.

"Shower on, full blast, 90 degrees." Immediately, hot water blasted out from all directions. She sighed as she felt the water washed away her weariness. Somehow, she just loved the steam forming around her while she's showering.

Once she finished her shower, she found a pile of neatly folded cloths sitting on the small metal stand next to the door. Her pajamas disappeared, but it's not a surprise.

While she gently patted herself dry with the white fluffy towel, a heavenly smell of scramble eggs and bacon drifted into her nose.

She smiled. Her roommate was probably preparing for her breakfast like every morning. They were friends since grade school, and they went to the same school together until they graduated from their collage.

A loud knock broke her train of thoughts.

"Linalee? Hurry up! Breakfast is getting cold!"

"I'm coming!"

Linalee grabbed the cloth and put it on without looking at it.

She walked out of the bathroom, brushing her long dark green hair with her fingers. When she arrived to the dining room, she found her roommate placing the plates of food on the table. His messy white hair was tied in a low ponytail. His white shirt was shielded by a white chief apron.

"Artificial eggs and bacon again, Allen?" She chuckled, finished tying her hair into two high pigtails.

He jumped up and turned around. A long scar ran down from the left side of his face. He told her that he got the scar from a childhood accident, and he never spoke of it ever again.

"Linalee! I didn't hear you coming out…"

"Quit worrying." She sat down. "I've already packed everything for us anyways."

"I can't believe we're leaving in three hours."

"Your uncle and my brother were partners after all." Linalee picked up her fork and poked at the pork on her plate. "Weren't they working for some Corp.?"

"Mm hn." Allen nodded, eating his own portion of food. He picked up his cup of coffee and swallowed the food. "It made them rich, and that also affected us too, in a good way."

They fell silence. Linalee picked up her egg and placed it in her mouth. The taste of artificial scramble egg slid down her throat as she swallowed it. His cooking skills have improved, she mused.

"It's amazing how we're able to get the First Class spot on the Black Order too." Allen spoke out loud.

"Thank me, Allen," Linalee laughed. "I helped designed the ship."

"Hahaha, good point." Allen chuckled. "Do Uncle Mana and your brother know that we're going to visit them?"

"No." She stuffed another egg into her mouth. "We're going to surprise them. I've got the address from his letter. It's a one month trip."

"…That's a long time…But isn't plane or shuttle faster than the ship?"

"I want to take a month off for vacation. After all, we can celebrate Christmas and New Year on board."

"You're right…" Allen finished his coffee and reached for his plate.

A little gold object zoomed into the room and landed in front of him. "Timcanpy!"

Linalee watched the white hair man picked up the little gold robot. "I thought you got attacked by that old lady's cat again…"

Timcanpy made a growling sound and bit his thumb.

"AHH!" Allen jumped up. To his horror, he watched the little robot flew over his plate of food and swallowed everything including the plate.

"No!!" He yelled and chased the little robot out of the room. "Give me back my food!"

Linalee giggled. Even thought Allen is the same age as her, he still acted like a kid sometimes.

'I can mature when I want to, and be immature whenever I want.' She remembered him saying that to her a few years ago.

"So true…" She muttered, smiling. "Allen, get back here."

The white hair man walked back in, sulking. "My food…"

"I'll order some food for you later when we leave."

He grumbled a reply.

After the breakfast, Linalee checked the clock. Eight o clock. She walked up to her room and picked up her luggage. It was a small palm sized metal box. The small metal piece may look small, but it can store a lot more things than she can imagine. But since they're not moving away, Linalee simply stored all her and Allen's cloth into the box along with some personal accessories except for the furniture.

"Allen," She called as she put her black leather coat on. "We're leaving!"

Allen stumbled out from his room. "Did you bring everything?"

She nodded, putting on her boots.

He reached over her and grabbed his own coat. Linalee stood up and placed the metal storage box into her bag. She got up, took out a breakfast-bar and stuffed it into Allen's mouth.

"Here's your breakfast." She opened the door. "Let's go!"

* * *

_ In the winter of 2072, technology rules the world. Almost everybody have their own personal robots, the Akumas. They would do most of the work for their owners. They looked like human, act like human, and they're almost identical to human. The only thing they're different from a human is they don't have any feelings. They're just an empty shell, created to obey commands._

Linalee sighed. Almost everything she saw on the street is Akumas.

She didn't get any of those robots for her or Allen. They're just too creepy. Who knows what they're thinking? Who knows when they're going to turn against you? The only robot in their house was the house itself.

She watched the traffic slowly moved below her. Allen, who sat next to her, went into his own world while listening to his mp3 player.

She looked out from her window again. Snow drifted down from the sky and past their air shuttle.

They're flying through the air of New York City to the sea port.

Linalee felt the shuttle descending as they came to their stop. They jumped out of the shuttle along with some other passengers.

"Linalee…Wow…" Allen blinked as the ship came to their view.

It was black and silver. It was the biggest ship he ever seen. "You…designed this?" he stuttered. A few people around them turned around and gave them a surprised look.

"Yeah." Linalee smiled proudly. She admired her work and dragged him forward. She gave the tickets to the ticket collector and dragged Allen onboard with her.

"How many people can this ship store?!" Allen stared as he followed her. "It's huge!"

"I think…around 100,000 people…maybe more." She turned around and found Allen gawking at her. "What?"

"Linalee….I never knew…"He smiled and shook his head. "No wonder you're one of the best students in the school…top interior designer, top exterior designer, top fashion designer, top…" He counted. "I can't even think anymore, and I know there's much more to list!"

"Aww, Allen, stop embarrassing me!" She joked. "Seriously, I'm not that good-"

"Ms. Linalee and Mr. Allen?" A soft voice interrupted her. Linalee turned back.

A young woman stood in front of them. Linalee narrowed her eyes. This woman looked almost TOO perfect. Her thick blond hair was tied in a high ponytail. She was dressed in a black and white uniform. She bowed. "Welcome aboard to the Black Order. I am to guide you to your suites on this board. If you wouldn't mind, please follow me."

Linalee sighed. Another Akuma. Judging by this, she guessed majority of the crew are also Akumas.

"Sure." They replied.

'Seriously, I think that Earl man have too much time on his hands…' She thought. 'It seems like he's going to take over the world with these robots or something…'

* * *

He sat down on his chair and ran the delicate fingers through his long silky hair. He watched the passengers boarding onto his ship. It took him five years to get these kinds of achievements. He is one of the richest men in the world. He has his corporations all over the countries and owned literally forty-five percent of the world. He stood up as he heard a small knock on his door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a giant fat man came bouncing in, carrying a weird purple umbrella. His tall black hat was decorated with some blood red roses and veins. His tiny eyes were hidden behind a pair of small eyeglasses. His round body looked so much like a ball that his suit might ripped into shreds.

"Kanda! It's been so long!" He cried happily. "Don't you just love my Akumas that I provided for this ship?"

"Hn. They're useful in a way, but I prefer the real things." Kanda walked up to the man and shook the man's hand. "It's really been a long time, Earl Millenium."

"Kanda, you still looked the same and acted the same! Well, except for your hair…" He pointed his umbrella at his hair. "It grew!"

Kanda ignored the man and tied his hair into a low ponytail. "Hn."

"Aww, Kanda." Earl chuckled. "It looked good on you!"

Kanda frowned slightly. "What is your business here?" He questioned.

"I'm simply just dropping by to greet you, my friend." Earl turned and walked out. "It's really nice here, that designer sure is creative. Thanks for the free first class ticket anyways!"

Kanda watched the door closed behind the man. He never really liked that man, but he's a good business partner. He went to his closet and pulled out his black coat.

Before he knew it, a flash of red came out from his closed and dived at him. Kanda stepped aside and watched his attacker landed on the floor.

"Lavi!" He demanded. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Ow…" Lavi sat up, rubbing his nose. "I was planning to surprise you… But you found me…" He grinned. "That was fun, hiding in the closet and all!"

"…" Kanda's eye twitched slightly as he watched the red hair man walked over to his chair and sat down. "Go back to your own suite!"

"N-O!" Lavi sang and jumped onto his lake sized bed. "Your room is way bigger than mine!"

The Japanese marched over to his room as he tried to get the red head down from his bed, only to get shoved onto his bed as Lavi jumped over him playfully. "Catch me if you can, Yuu!"

Kanda got up calmly and went back to his chair. The best way to deal with Lavi… is to ignore him.

He turned around and picked up his glass cup. While he took his sip at the green tea, he watched his friend. He may not look like it, but Lavi is one of the brightest men he knew in the world of business. He's also one of the few people that are able gain Kanda's trust and become his friend.

Lavi observed all the objects around the room and poked at a few. He spotted a few E-books on the shelf and picked one up. The slim monitor turned on as he clicked the power. "Master of pleasure…" He read. "Is this some sort of a romance novel?"

"It's supposed to be dramatic…bring tears to eyes…but it's not touching enough."

Lavi laughed. "Yuu, you're too emotionless!"

"Hn." Kanda got up and walked to the door. "I'm going out for some air. Don't destroy my room, or I'll throw you overboard whether you like it or not."

"The ship is about to depart soon-" Lavi called as Kanda closed the door.

'I should look around…' He decided.

* * *

"Lights on, forty percent." She ordered. The room immediately lit up with a dim glow.

The warm feeling from the room gave her a homey mood. A giant bed was floating in the middle of the room, two black leather sofas were set in the corner of the room, and a glass coffee table was set in front of them. A closet was hidden in the wall. She got her metal storage box out and set it on the drawer.

Linalee threw her bag down on her bed. She walked over to her window and looked outside. She knew for sure, she won't miss the city of New York and its murky glow.

She watched people piled onto the ship as it's getting ready for its departure.

'Maybe I should go look around at my work…' She muttered as she walked out of her room.

She found Allen sitting in the living room of the suite. He was playing with the little gold robot while avoiding getting bit.

"Allen." He looked up. "I'm going out for a walk, want to tag along?"

Allen shook his head and smiled. "I'm too tired… maybe later, I'll see you at dinner."

Linalee nodded and closed the door behind her.

She walked aimlessly down the hall. The soft glow from the lights on the wall reflected against the hard marble floor.

A giant glass door came to her view. Linalee walked over and the door automatically swings open. Cool air hit her face, greeting her. She looked around. The whole deck was crowded with passengers. They stood around the side of the ship, waving farewells at their family and love ones. She grinned slightly. It's going to be a new adventure for everybody once the ship began to sail.

People began cheering as she felt the ship began to move. 'At last…'

Suddenly, a few passengers bumped into her as they moved back, causing her to lose her balance. Linalee shut her eyes and wait for the impact. She felt a hand closed around her wrist and stopped her fall. She looked up, and found herself face to face with a pair of gray blue eyes.

TBC

* * *

A/N: err… tell me if you guys like the story or not, otherwise, I won't continue it…

This chapter is simply…a prologue…

No reviews, no new chapter!


	2. Fate

The Depths of the Deep Blue Ocean 2

A/N: Ahh, a new chapter at last! Sorry for the slow update because I have to make up all these works for my school… my orchestra had a fieldtrip on THURSDAY to DISNEYLAND…and usually, Thursday is when my lovely teachers hand out A LOT of homework and TESTS…

Thank you guys for the reviews, and sorry to those of you that felt offended/annoyed with my 'threat' from last chapter. I forgot to add a 'jk' at the end of my sentence. I didn't mean for any harm, I just felt like putting it there for fun.

This story is a Kanda / Linalee story, but who knows... I MIGHT add a twist in there...

Disclaimer: Do not own D Gray Man.

Hope you guys like it!

* * *

**Fate**

_Gentle ocean breeze blew against the Black Order as it sliced across the dark water smoothly. Her violet eyes met his gray blue ones. People began to pile back inside, but nobody paid their attention to the two figures standing among them. His hand was wrapped around her slender wrist as he pulled her up back to her feet His dark eyes widened for a second in surprise._

'Those eyes looked familiar…'

He broke their eye contact and let go of her wrist. Linalee looked onto the ground as she shifted her foot nervously. The whole deck was now emptied except them and a few people watching the disappearing NYC behind the fog.

She decided to break the silence. "Thank you."

"Mr. Kanda," It was another Akuma. Linalee's eyes widened. "Mr. Lavi was asking for you."

"Tell him I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Yes sir." The Akuma bowed and strode away.

He turned back to her. "What was it that you were saying, Miss…?"

"Kanda?"

He blinked.

"Are you really Kanda?

"…" He stared coolly at her. 'She must be one of those reporters or journalists asking about my business...'

"Don't you know me?"

Kanda closed his eyes and turned around. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you."

"Kanda Yuu, age twenty three, Japanese," He stopped in his track. "Birthday is June sixth, Studied at a small private school in 2060 at age eleven, left the school in 2065…" She was cut off as he grabbed her wrist.

"Hey!"

The glass door swings open as they ran past it. Linalee struggled to break away, but his grip tightened.

He opened a door and pulled her in. "Lights on, one hundred percent." He ordered. Immediately, the lights turned on. They blinked a few times to focus their vision from the brightness.

Kanda recovered first.

"Who are you?" He demanded, pushing her against a wall. "How do you know about my past?"

"Can't you remember me?"

"God damn it!" Kanda ran his fingers through his hair wearily. He was getting some fresh air, saw a girl falling, caught her, and now she's spilling all his private information out loud.

'Who is she?!' He thought, frustrated.

He looked into her eyes and stopped his train of thoughts. Those violet orbs stared back at him. 'They looked familiar…almost like hers…'

"Linalee…?"

Linalee smiled.

"I'm so glad to see you here!" She wrapped her arms around him.

Kanda found himself slowly hugging Linalee back. "Linalee…" He muttered against her head.

* * *

Allen stepped out of the shower. He watched Timcanpy flew up to him, holding his towel.

"Thanks, Tim."

The little gold robot flew off and came back with his clean cloth.

"We should get ready for lunch soon, don't you think?" He laughed lightly.

Allen dried his body and reached for his shirt. It was his usual white chemise.

After he changed, Allen walked back out to his room. He expected to see Linalee sitting there, fumbling with her cloths, but he found the room emptied.

'Strange, she should be back by now…' He thought.

Allen opened the door and looked outside. It was emptied too.

'Oh well,' He shrugged as he closed the door. 'Maybe she met someone she knew. After all, we'll see each other at dinner.' He whipped out his laptop and settled down onto the couch.

"Time to do some business," Allen logged into his account. "Don't you think so, Timcanpy?"

The little gold robot landed on his head and he laughed.

* * *

"I can't believe I get to see you here!" Linalee laughed as she let go of him.

"Hn."

"You just disappeared seven years ago... and we lost contact…"

"My father took me away." He studied the girl in front of him. She grew a lot since they last seen each other.

"Why are you here anyways?" She walked past him and looked around the room. She realized they're inside a conference room. A huge oval glass table floated in the middle of the room surrounded by black chairs. Two giant windows were on the end of the room.

"I own this ship."

Linalee snapped her attention back to him. "What?!"

"I. Own. This. Ship."

She looked at him, stunned. "Wow…You must have been very successful with your business…"

Kanda looked away from her as he walked towards one of the windows. He spotted a few seagulls flying beside the ship. 'They looked so carefree…'

"Do you know every detail on this ship?"

"…No." He said truthfully. "This is my first time on this ship…but I was looking around earlier."

"I can be your tour guide!" Linalee grinned at him.

"…?"

"I designed this ship."

"How…Ironic." He walked to one of the chairs and sat down.

Linalee walked over to him. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you want me to give you a tour on your ship?"

Kanda rubbed his temples.

"…Why not." He said at last.

She bended down and draped her arms around his shoulder. Kanda felt her silky hair fell down onto his head.

"So when do you want to do it?"

"Later."

"Hahaha," Laughing, Linalee freed him. "How 'bout after lunch?"

"We'll see."

"I'll take Allen with us."

"Beansprout is here?!" Kanda looked up in surprise.

"I see you still have that little disagreement with him." She chuckled. "It's been seven years anyways, Kanda, you should be all grown up!"

Kanda stood up and walked towards the door. "Lights off." The light went out at his command. He opened the door while glancing back at her.

"You coming?"

Linalee grinned. "Sure!" She ran to him and took his hand.

The moment their fingers came in contact, Kanda felt a little flutter in his stomach.

He watched her walked gracefully in front of him. He never really paid any attention to her earlier, but now, his heart beat faster as she led him down the corridor.

Kanda shook his head. The flutter inside his stomach disappeared.

'What was that just now…?'

"Kanda?" He snapped out and blinked.

Linalee stood in front of him, giving him a strange look.

"You had a blank expression on your face." She let go of his hand as she reached for his face. "Are you okay?"

"Hn." Kanda pulled his face away and walked past her. "I'm going back."

Linalee's face fell. Kanda changed a lot since they last met. He seemed colder. She watched as Kanda came to a halt and turned his head. "Come find me in my room at three o clock."

She smiled.

Kanda may seem colder, but he's still Kanda.

"Yes sir!" She saluted him, watching his retreating form.

Unknown to her, as she watch him walked away, a small smile graced across his lips.

* * *

Kanda opened his door quietly. He sighed. He felt the familiar flutter came back to his stomach. By the time he closed the door, a pillow nearly hit him in the face. He dodged another one as Lavi threw it at him.

"Lavi! What the hell!" He yelled. To his surprise, he found his coffee covered friend sitting on a large pile of pillows. 'What the… Where the hell did he get all those pillows?!'

"What's going on!?" He demanded.

The redhead pouted. "You're so slow!" He whined, throwing another pillow at the Japanese. "I've been waiting for you so we can eat our lunch!"

"Shit, Lavi!" Kanda managed to catch one with his hand. "Can't you use the Auto- Chef?! It was loaded this morning. I'm sure it can give you some food."

"I tried!" Lavi's pout turned into an upset look. "But it hates me!"

"It's just a god damn machine!"

"It can communicate with its associates…they're plotting against me!" Lavi grabbed another pillow and hurled it at his moving target.

Kanda marched over to the black machine, ignoring the pillows sailing past him. "You're not doing it right."

"I know what I'm doing!" Lavi protested as he jumped up. "Watch!" he pressed a few buttons on the Auto-Chief. "I'll order…pizza."

Instantly, instead of making pizza, the machine squirts out coffee at the redhead.

"See!" He whined.

"…." Kanda moved in front of him. He tapped a few buttons lightly with his slender fingers. "Pizza."

To Lavi's dismay, a pan came out from the bottom of the machine. _"Your order is served."_ The machine sang.

"…"

"This is so not fair." Lavi complained.

"It's simple." Kanda placed the pan onto his friend's head. "Eat it while it's still hot."

"But-…aw, fine." The redhead sat down on a chair. "Thanks, Yuu."

Kanda watched his friend devoured the pizza. He sat down by the widow, watching the ocean. Slowly, he felt his eyes grew heavy. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the table with his arms as the pillows.

His thoughts on the ocean drifted to a certain girl he met earlier. He remembered her violet eyes staring back at him as he caught her wrist.

* * *

"Allen?" Linalee poked her head in. "What are you doing?"

Allen looked up, smiling innocently. "Hacking."

She sighed. The boy has a natural born talent for technology. It seemed like his favorite thing to do with his ultra sleek laptop is hacking.

"Can't you do anything else besides hacking?"

"I can read, write, draw-"

"No! I meant," She rubbed her eyes. "It's illegal!"

Allen pouted.

"But it's fun!"

"What are you hacking into this time?"

"Our government's database."

"…You're hopeless…"

"It's my hobby."

He went back typing energetically on his keyboard. Linalee walked over to her Auto-Chief and ordered a cup of tea.

"Hey, Allen."

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember Kanda?"

The rapid clicking of the keyboard stopped.

"What about him?"

"He's here."

Allen looked up sharply. "He? As in Kanda Yuu?"

She reached for her steaming cup of tea and sipped slowly. She smiled. 'Non-artificial tea... It's the real thing! This is a lot better than what I've expected!'

"Linalee! Don't joke around!" Allen's whining brought her back. "Is he really here? On this ship? This very ship?"

"He owns this ship."

Allen whistled. "Nice…Where has he been all these years? What did he do?"

"I… don't know yet." She sipped the tea again.

"I'm going to do some research on him…" Allen sat back down and began his rapid typing.

"Allen, I really don't think you can find much about him…"

"You'll never know…" His typing stopped as he clicked the 'enter' button on his keyboard.

Linalee went over to him and watched the results showing up.

"Kanda Yuu, Japanese, age unknown, birth date unknown, known as one of the richest men in the world, owned forty five percent of the world, owned the 'Innocence Corps.'…." Allen read. "… That's it..."

"There's not much known about him…" Linalee muttered. "Everything about him is so… public. They don't even have his birth date!"

"He owns literally forty five percent of the world... no shit..." He paused, thinking. "Maybe… maybe there's something about him…" Allen typed in a few more words, and immediately, a picture showed up.

"Whoa…" Allen blinked.

"That's him." She stared at the picture. The face of Kanda Yuu stared back at them. His hair was tied in a low ponytail. There is absolutely no expression on his face. Something about his eyes caught Linalee's attention. The dark gray blue eyes somehow took her breath away.

"Linalee?"

"Huh?" She shook her head and cleared her mind.

"So did you meet Kanda?"

"Yeah, in a weird way…" She muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She smiled. "I'm going to give a private tour around this ship, you coming?"

Allen blinked.

"Sure. I want to know this place more… maybe even-"

"No hacking."

"Darn it."

* * *

_H__e felt himself falling. Suddenly, his feet came in contact with the soft ground._

_He looked back. A girl with two short pigtail ran towards him along with a white hair boy. He watched the girl's mouth moved, forming words. He can't hear her voice._

_"Yeah…" He heard himself muttered._

_Kanda watched the girl reached forward and took his hand. She gave him an encouraged smile and tugged him gently._

_He watched her mouthed the words. The other boy smiled as he pulled Kanda's other hand._

_They took him through the woods. Kanda's eyes blinked when they reached their destination._

_"Guys…"_

_Suddenly, the whole scenery was wiped away in front of him. He found himself standing in the darkness… He saw a large hand reaching down…_

_"Come with me."_

_Not knowing what to do, Kanda took the offered hand._

"Wake up! Yuu!"

Someone shook him roughly. "It's three! Wake up."

He covered his ears with his hand and turned away from the voice. "Go to hell…"

"Fine, you left me no choice," He heard the person sighed. "I guessed I have to use my kiss of life…."

Kanda snapped opened his eyes. For a moment, he thought he saw something moving closer to his face. That something looked oddly familiar like-

"LAVI!" He yelled angrily as he jumped up.

"Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" His redhead friend laughed, running out of the room.

"Damn." Why does Lavi always have to pull pranks and jokes on him when he's sleeping?

He stopped as he remembered his dream. To him, it looked oddly familiar. That whole scene almost reminded him of his past.

Kanda decided to throw the thought aside as Lavi poked his head back in. "Someone is here to see you. They're in the living room." The Japanese grunted a reply and walked out.

He found Linalee and Allen sat on the sofa while Lavi took over his chair. The look on their face told him that they heard the whole conversation from earlier.

The white hair boy grinned.

"Sleeping Beauty, eh?" He chuckled.

"Che, is that how you greeted the host?" Kanda shot a glare at Lavi. "You still looked like a beansprout."

"Oi!" Allen stood up, rolling up his sleeves. "Are you picking a fight with me?"

"Guys…" Lavi began nervously.

"You're the one that's picking a fight." Kanda ignored him and sat down in his other chair.

"You-" Allen's serious face twitched as it turned into a smile. "Kanda, you're still the same."

"Hn."

Lavi sighed in relief. He thought the hell would break loose if the whole 'argument' continued.

"Well," Linalee stood up. "Are you guys ready for the tour?"

"Hell yeah!" Lavi and Allen cried. They jumped up and ran outside, leaving her and Kanda alone in the room.

"Ready to go?" She beamed.

Kanda nodded slightly.

Linalee took his hand again and led him out. Kanda felt the familiar flutter coming back. The flutter made his whole body uncomfortable as he tried to work out what it might be. While fighting to control the flutter, Kanda found himself watching Linalee's back. Her slender body moved elegantly, but it didn't surprise him.

'This is going to be an interesting vacation…' He thought.

Linalee cheered mentally as she took Kanda's hand. Sure, she held lots of hands from different guys before, but this one is different.

His hand felt soft in a way. Her grip tightened slightly.

'This must be the fate…'

TBC

* * *

A/N: Forgive me! I tried my best to work on this story while working my ass off on my make up work… it's hell…

Ahh, I'm done complaining. School is a pain in the butt for me, but I'll manage.

Here's some guides to help those of you that's lost:

Akuma- robots

Auto-Chief - Some machine that cooks food that you order

er.. i think that's all so far.

feel free to ask me anything that you don't understand in this story!

I'll try my best to updat ASAP...if my hw and tests doesn't kill me first...

Thank you guys for reading!

Please Review!!


	3. First Dinner

A/N: Thank you guys for the reviews from last chapter….Right now, I basically had the whole story plot laid out inside my head, but I'm having a bit of problem setting them up with the right words…

And I'm also banning myself from Facebook for one whole week… (And I'm succeeding!) I don't want to get these addictions all at once…

Disclaimer: Screw this … I own nothing but my computer!

Okay… I just realized. I don't know much about ships. The whole tour would probably be really messed up.

Hope you guys will like this chapter! Please review!

* * *

**First Dinner **

_She gazed at the tall funnels as the wind picked up the scattered steam. The crimson dusk dyed the world blood red. The dark blue ocean reflected the color of amethysts. The calmness of the sea gave her the feeling of harmony…_

"Linalee?" Lavi waved his hand in front of her. She blinked. "What are you looking at?"

"See the funnels?" Linalee pointed at the five tall metal cylinders. "Those represented the 'power' of the ship."

"Power?" Allen questioned.

"As in 'strength'."

She noticed Kanda was standing behind the group. He hasn't said a word after since they began the tour.

"Let's go up." She suggested. "Maybe Kanda wouldn't mind introducing the captain to us…?"

Kanda looked into her eyes and lazily nodded.

She beamed gratefully at him and led the group through a pair of giant glass doors.

They walked past the main lobby with a luxurious staircase made out of glass and metal. The glass floor below their feet remained sturdy as they walked over it. Allen watched in amazement. He never expected Linalee could design something like this.

Lavi slid his hand along the metal railings as they continued their walk. Listening to Linalee talking and giving tours sounds so much better than having an Akuma leading you around. He spotted Kanda looking straight ahead. He followed the gaze and landed on Linalee.

'Yuu…'

They stopped in front of a metal door labeled 'Control room.' She knocked on the door lightly and stepped aside. Kanda took this as the cue as he moved forward. The door opened and they were greeted by a tall man.

"May I help you?" He studied the group. When he spotted Kanda, he immediately budged out of the way. "Mr. Kanda." He acknowledged.

"We want to see the captain." Kanda said, scanning around the room.

"I see…" The man ran his hand through his messy blond hair. "Please come this way. My name is Reever Wenhamm by the way."

He led them through the controls and machines. Allen's eyes widened. Machines, high tech computers, controls, and etc. This place seemed to be pure paradise for him.

They arrived to the middle of the room. A podium was set on the spot. A man with long red hair stood on it. His attention was focused on a giant hologram of the sea.

They watched Reever walked up to the man and saluted him.

"What is it?" A deep voice suddenly boomed. Linalee, Allen, and Lavi jumped at the sound.

"Mr. Kanda and his friends are here to visit you, Captain."

"Ahh." The figure stood up and turned around. Linalee and Allen noticed half of the man's face was covered with a white mask.

"Kanda, is it?" He laughed. "I wasn't expected to see you here so early!"

Kanda walked up and shook hands with him.

"I was planning to see you after diner, but my friends seemed to be very anxious to see you."

"Friends?" The man looked past Kanda though his mask. He noticed the other three people and chuckled slightly. "Nice to meet you, the name is Marian."

He noticed Kanda giving a weird look.

"Cross Marian, the captain of this ship."

He walked up to the threesome and shook their hands.

"So...Why is it that you guys were so anxious to see me?"

Linalee grinned. "I was giving them a tour around the ship, and I realized that we should get to know about our captain, too."

Cross laughed. "You're pretty bright, young lady."

"I'm Linalee," She then pointed at the other two. "This is Allen, and that is Lavi."

"So why are you giving a tour?"

"I knew this ship better than most of the people here."

"Oh?" Cross raised his eyebrow with interests.

"She designed this ship." Kanda said.

"Wow… I never dreamed of meeting the creator of this ship, I just simply control this ship and where it's going."

"You have the total control of the ship?" Allen blurred out.

"You could say that."

"Can you take me as your apprentice?"

Cross looked at the younger boy in surprise. "Why do you want to do that? Can't you explore around on the ship and have some fun for one month instead of getting stuck inside this room?"

"I want to learn how to control a ship!"

"Hmm…" Cross shot a look at Kanda.

"You can let him if you want." Kanda muttered curtly.

Lavi, Linalee, and Allen looked at him in shock.

"Okay then," The masked man slapped the boy on the back. "Come to me on the twenty sixth. That's the day after Christmas."

Allen smiled. "Thank you, Master Cross! Thank you, Kanda."

"Hn."

Linalee watched Kanda turned back to the door. She never expected Kanda to do something like letting Allen controlling the ship.

"Hello? Linalee?" Allen snapped his fingers in front of her face. "We're going back now."

"Okay."

They bid their farewells to Cross and left.

* * *

Kanda and Lavi escorted Linalee and Allen back to their suite. After watching them disappeared down the corridor, Linalee closed the door. 

"What time is it?" Allen yawned. "I'm hungry and tired."

Linalee scanned at the clock. "It's six thirty."

"Dinner starts at seven…?"

"Yeah."

"Then we should get ready, we have only thirty minutes!" He jumped up and rushed into his room.

"Wait, Allen!" The white hair boy poked his head back out. "Your cloths are still inside the luggage."

"Oh yeah…"

Linalee laughed and went to her room. She picked up the box and clicked the 'open' button. The lid opened as she reached inside.

She pulled out a black bag. "That's yours." She then tossed the bag at Allen.

"Thanks. I'll see you later." Allen closed the door behind him and went back to his room.

"What should I wear…?" She muttered as she pulled out her own luggage.

* * *

Allen closed his door. 

He walked to his bed and lay down on his back. For a moment, he stared at his wooden ceiling. Suddenly, he remembered Linalee telling him about the features of their rooms from earlier.

"Change ceiling, glass mode." He commanded. The wooden ceiling parted smoothly and replaced with a glass window. Allen watched the dark crimson sky gradually drawing close to navy blue. He reached over his head and grabbed a random piece of cloth. He looked down at his hand and found a black chemise shirt.

"…Why not." He removed his white shirt and replaced it with the black one.

Timcanpy flew to him, carrying a red ribbon in its mouth. Allen grinned as he took the ribbon from the robot. "You think this will match?"

The little gold robot landed on his head. "I'll take it as 'yes'." He laughed and tied a small bow around his neck.

"Let's go back, I hope Linalee is done changing."

* * *

She fumbled with her cloths. The straps and fabrics were tangled against her head and hands. With one final tug, the cloth came off. 

Linalee sighed.

She looked in the mirror and found herself standing in a dark navy blue dress. The soft fabric felt like feather as she caressed her fingers against it.

"This should do."

The Chinese girl quickly brushed her hair and decided to leave it untied. She studied herself in the mirror and snapped her finger.

She picked out a tear shaped pendent made out of sapphire and diamonds in her jewelry box. After clipping on the necklace, Linalee gave a small smile at herself and walked out of her room.

"You look real pretty, Linalee." Allen stood up from his sofa. 'She looks beautiful in anything…' He thought.

"Thanks, you look nice too." Linalee nodded at him and picked up her bag. "Shall we go now?"

"Sure." Allen opened the door for her. "Let's go."

* * *

They walked into the dining hall to find it crowded with people. Everybody was dressed up elegantly. The room was huge, and tables and chairs were set all over the place. The whole room was surrounded by glass windows. Above them, the ceiling was also made out of glass. Beyond the glass was the dark night sky. The room was basically a glass box. 

Linalee scanned around the room and found her target of interest.

He was surrounded by people who're talking to him all at once. His face was covered with a bored expression, and occasionally lifted his cup up to his mouth.

"Kanda!" She called.

Everybody turned to her as she marched up to him, grabbed his arm, and dragged him away from the crowd.

"Mr. Kanda! Is that your girlfriend?"

"Mr. Kanda! Say something!"

"They're walking off together!"

"Mr. Kanda!"

Linalee sighed. These people must be some sort of reporters. "Kanda? How can you talk to all these people all at once?"

"I'm used to it."

"Are they reporters?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"How did they get up here?"

"They have their ways…" Kanda stopped his walk and threw a glance behind him. The reporters are gone.

"Linalee." She looked up at him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

They spotted Allen among the crowd and approached to him. "Allen!"

The white hair boy turned to them. "Man, I'm glad I found you guys." He grinned.

"Let's go take our seats."

Linalee and Allen looked at Kanda confusingly. "Where do we sit?"

"At my table."

"But…"

"I've arranged everything already."

Linalee and Allen smiled. "Thanks!"

They followed him as he led them through the crowd. Soon, they arrived to a massive platform. On the platform sat a table with four seats.

Kanda walked over to the chairs and pulled one out on each side.

"Sit." He commanded.

They sat down on their chairs as Kanda took his seat next to her.

"Where's Lavi?" Linalee asked, looking around.

"He's in the kitchen."

Allen and Linalee shot Kanda a confused look, but made no comment. 'We'll find out eventually.' They thought.

Once everybody in the dining hall took their seat, the lights dimmed.

A spotlight turned on at the front of the room. A figure stood under the beam of light and opened his arms.

'It's Captain Cross…'

"Good evening!" His deep voice rang throughout the room.

"Welcome aboard to the Black Order! I am your captain Cross Marian. We hope you enjoyed your stay on this cruise for one whole month! Just a reminder, Christmas is just three days away!"

The crowd cheered. "And soon followed that, is the New Year's Day. We will be partying on these two days! Please make yourself a home on here and enjoy your stay!" Everybody applauded and cheered. "I will introduce a few people that helped put this ship together. First one is Earl Millenium,"

A spotlight shined down on the left of the room. Linalee's eyes narrowed at the giant man with the tall hat. "He provided us our Akuma Services!" Everybody clapped. "Next is Linalee Lee."

'Eh?!' She blinked a powerful beam of light shot down at her. She noticed everybody's attention was on her. "This young lady designed this ship! Isn't she just creative?" The crowd cheered and few people whistled at her. Linalee felt her body tensed.

"Now, last but not least, is one of the most powerful and richest men in the world, also the owner of this ship, Kanda Yuu!"

Another beam of spotlight turned on at Kanda.

"Give them your applause and cheers!" Everybody cheered and clapped. Some people continued whistling at Linalee as she shrank back in her seat, embarrassed. She never liked attention.

A warm hand reached out and closed itself against her hand. She looked down, and surprised to find Kanda's hand there. She quickly looked up at him, but he's not looking at her.

She gave a small smile and relaxed.

As if sensing her tension disappeared, Kanda let go of her hand.

Nobody saw this except for Earl. The man narrowed his eyes at the two behind his glasses.

'Interesting…' He thought amusingly.

"But now, I know we're all hungry, so I'll make the speech short." Cross laughed. "We should get on with our dinner. Just to let you guys know, everything edible on this ship is one hundred percent real. No artificial meat, no artificial vegetable, no artificial fruits, and no artificial drinks!" The crowded cheered louder. "Let the food be served!"

Linalee and Allen clapped with the crowd. The lights returned in a dimmed shade. The doors opened and the Akumas poured out from them, carrying plates of food.

Linalee sighed. She knew she had to get used to these artificial humans one day.

"Your dinner, ma'am." A voice spoke behind her.

"Oh." She scooted aside and watched her plate of food setting down in front of her. She looked up to find Lavi's smiling face looking down at her.

"Lavi!"

"Enjoy your food!"

He then set two other plates in front of Kanda and Allen. He grinned and sat down in the empty seat.

Linalee picked up her fork and knife. She looked down at her plates and found an enormous piece of steak in the middle, a bunch of vegetables, some spaghetti, and some mash potatoes on the side.

"I don't like Akumas serving me." Kanda commented as he picked up a piece of carrot with his fork. "That's why Lavi's in the kitchen."

Allen chewed on a piece of meat contently. He swallowed and grinned. "Mm. Real beef!"

"And I don't like artificial food." Kanda added. He clicked on a button on the side, and a hole appeared in the middle of the table.

"What do you guys want to drink?"

"Apple Cider!" Allen and Lavi cried out in unison.

Linalee thought for a moment. "Green tea." She decided.

Kanda clicked on a few buttons. Soon afterwards, four glass of beverage appeared in the middle of the table.

"Get it yourselves. You all know which one is which."

Lavi laughed as he reached for the glass containing his apple cider. "You're so cold."

"Thank you."

Linalee took her green tea and watched Kanda reached for the last glass.

'He ordered green tea too…' she thought amusingly.

They continued their eating while chatting while Kanda eat quietly.

Linalee noticed this nudged his shin with her foot. He looked up. "Are you always this quiet?"

"There's nothing for me to talk about."

She shook her head. "There have to be something that you want to talk about."

He watched her grinned. The annoying flutter came back to in his stomach and he put down his fork. "I don't think so."

"How do you feel about this whole cruise trip?"

"It's going to be an interesting trip."

"Oh? Why's that?" Linalee urged him to continue. They're actually having a conversation.

"I don't know." Maybe not.

"Why is your hair so long?" She changed the subject.

"Because I don't felt like cutting it." Kanda closed his eyes and sip on his tea. He found this whole conversation not as annoying or boring as he thought it would be.

It's somehow different from the conversations he had with other people except Lavi.

Maybe it's a thing between friends…

"What do you do?"

"Read."

"Seriously, Kanda." Linalee giggled. "You should talk more."

"…"

Allen and Lavi talked about their computer and technology stuff. They both came down to the same conclusion that they both have one similar interest.

**_Hacking._**

"Seriously?!" Lavi's eyes widened.

"I find it pretty challenging, but I like it." Allen finished his steak and went to work on his vegetables.

"Dude, it's totally awesome! How many places have you hacked?"

"I don't remember."

"Me too."

They laughed and gave each other a high five.

She lifted her glass up to her lips and drank the tea. 'Great, two hackers are now friends…' Linalee sighed. 'That's just great.'

"Yuu hacked too, and he's a lot better than me! He's the tech wiz!"

She coughed. The tea went down her throat so suddenly that she choked. '…Make that three…'

Kanda sat back looked up at the sky. He knew they're in the middle ocean now, at least a hundred miles away from NY. He spotted the stars gathered and twinkled with their brilliant lightings. He stood up.

"I'm going back." He nodded at his friends and left.

Linalee watched the Japanese walked out and disappeared behind the glass door.

She looked down at her hand that Kanda had held earlier. A warm feeling began to form inside her heart as she rubbed her hands together.

'Kanda…'

_TBC _

* * *

A/N: Man… phew, another chapter done! As you guys can see…. Earl is smarter than he looks! XD He's just so funny from time to time…thought he's not really my favorite character (Kanda and Allen stole my heart…) 

Okay, i know this chapter is a bit boring... but things will get exciting in the later on story!

Next chapter should be about the Christmas Day! And then the New Years… then the CLIMAX! (gasp) … well… I hope you guys like the story!

I've basically got the whole story set out in my head, but they're all scrambled up... XD

they're like jigsaw puzzles...

I'll try and update at the end of this week... too much work and tests this week. I'll be having a test tomorrow, need to stay at school until seven PM tomorrow because of some orchestra stuff, then test of Thursday, and need to stay until at least 9 PM because of orchestra concert, and then FOUR FRIGGIN' TESTS on friday... je suis visse! (add an accent on the last 'e'!) and valentine's day is not making anything better either...(grumble)

Sorry for my rants.. but that's just to let you readers know that i'll be trying my best to update asap...

Please review and tell me if you guys like it or not! MAKE ME HAPPY!! Cookies for anybody that review! (virtual cookies that is...)

Thanks!


	4. Snow Rain

A/N: Thanks for the reviews… Sorry for the slow update, my internet was being gay… it died when I tried to open it…

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!

Sorry for the slow update, and the grammar, and the bad usage of words… etc etc…

I hope you guys like this chap!

It's all Christmas-y and happy and lighthearted… or is it?

Please review after you read and tell if you like it or not!

* * *

**Snow Rain**

_**December 24, Christmas Eve.**_

_Rain drizzled down from the gloomy clouds on Christmas Eve. Everybody shopped for presents at the mall onboard, and everywhere is crowded with joy and warmth. This is the holiday spirit after all._

Linalee squint her eyes at the rows of books. Christmas shopping can be both fun and frustrating. Picking a perfect gift for a friend is harder than she expected. She noticed an e-book sticking out from the shelf and reached for it. Glancing briefly at the title, she chuckled. It was just a fairytale collection.

"It's been a while since I read anything like this…" She muttered to herself, tucking the e-book under her arm. 'I'll read it later tonight.'

After purchasing the book, she walked out of the store.

She wandered around in the mall's lobby, sighing. This is getting harder and more wearisome. Suddenly, she spotted an antique store around the corner. Linalee grinned and walked towards it.

Inside the store, she found herself as if standing in another world. Everything inside the store is handmade, and all the walls are filled with wooden clocks. Linalee reached out for a box made out of maple wood. Her attention was caught by a silver pocket watch, which was sitting inside a glass barrier. She remembered how Allen had complained to her a few days ago about his watch dying. 'It's time for him to get a new watch.'

She heard a faint sound of paper shuffling and turned around. Sitting behind the counter was a young woman. Her dark brown hair was tied in a short ponytail.

"Excuse me?"

The woman looked up in surprise and gave a yelp. She stood up, but her long skirt was caught by one of her foot. Linalee winced as the woman fell facedown behind the counter.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly, helping the woman up.

"Yeah, sorry…"

"Ah. I'm Linalee." Linalee grinned and reached out a hand. "What's your name?"

"M-Miranda." The woman stuttered.

"Do you sell that pocket watch over there?"

"Yes."

"I would like to buy it."

"Sure."

Linalee wandered off to the other side of the room while Miranda busied herself with opening the cabin. She found a set of brass lock picks in a wooden box. Maybe Lavi would like it? After all, it's handy for him to cause mischief to Kanda …

"Miranda?" She called. "I'll take this set of lock picks too!"

A few minutes later, Linalee came out from the store, humming happily.

'Two down.' She thought.

Linalee stopped in her track. Standing in front of her is an enormous Christmas tree. She slowly walked around it and watched some people taking pictures by the tree.

'It's at least 20 feet tall…'

She looked closer and found little Christmas lights were planted among the branches. Silver and gold ornaments were hanged all over it, too.

Linalee was too diverted with the tree that she didn't notice a man standing in front of her. She yelped out in surprise when she came in contact with something warm, meaty, and big. Her bags dropped onto the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" She apologized, picking up the bags. When she looked back up at the man, her face fell.

'Earl…'

"Good afternoon, Mademoiselle." He sang, bowing at her.

Linalee felt her body moving back slowly and stopped herself. "Good afternoon to you to, Monsieur Earl."

"Doing some Christmas shopping?"

"Yes."

"For your friends?"

"Yes."

"For Kanda?" He peeped down at her through his glasses.

"What do you want?" Linalee's eyes narrowed at the man.

"My, my." Earl walked closer, "A little feisty girl you are."

Linalee planted her feet onto the ground and faced him. "You're threatening me."

"Hoho, I'm not threatening you, love."

'Love?! The hell with him…' "You sounded like you are." She bowed her head slightly. "Now if you will excuse me, I have things to do."

"Ah, I see, I see," Earl moved out of her way as she strolled past him. "We'll be seeing each other around soon." He tipped his hat at the girl sarcastically.

She ignored him.

* * *

Kanda sat in front of his state- of- the- art laptop, reading reports. His fingers tapped on the wooden surface of the table lightly in a rhythm as he read. After half an hour had passed, a small beeping sound killed the silence of the room. He looked up and found his link' vibrating on his desk.

"Screen on." The little machine stopped the beeping and a hologram of a man appeared above the 'link. "What is it?"

"Mr. Kanda, we are to inform you that everything here is under control now."

"… Good."

"And Komui said that in just a few more days, the new product will be able to release, too."

"New product…?" Kanda's eyes narrowed. "What new product?"

"It's the pills that we've been working on for the past few months."

"Pills?" Suspicions arise in his head. He never remembered anything about making pills.

"Sir…? It's those pills that can make people stronger and age slower-"

"How? When did I tell you to make those?"

"About three months ago. You send us an email telling us what to do…" The man's voice began to have a tint of worry. "Is something wrong?"

Kanda quickly typed in the data into his laptop and watch the screen ran through everything. He hoped that it's just his own mind being unreasonable…

He felt his face turned hard as the results came up negative.

"Mana, go tell the others to stop this whole pill making thing."

"Yes sir."

The screen turned off and the hologram disappeared. Kanda sat back to his chair and rubbed his fingers against his temples. Someone had used his name and slowly taking the control of his company. At least he found out about it early.

'What's with all the pills and making people stronger…?' He thought, massaged his eyes.

The door opened and Lavi's happy face appeared. "Yuu!"

"What do you want?" Kanda muttered wearily. "I'm not in the mood."

"Are you going to any Christmas shopping? It IS Christmas Eve today."

Kanda felt like hitting his head against the table. "Screw this whole Christmas thing."

"Whoa, easy there." Lavi backed away slowly, laughing. "What about Allen? What about me? What about Linalee?" He watched Kanda's face softened at the name. "You need to get presents for us all!"

"…" Kanda sighed in defeat. He's too tired to argue with Lavi right now.

"What are you so mad about anyways?"

"I'm not mad."

"I know you long enough to read your expressions and emotions!" He smiled. "Tell me!"

"It's nothing." Kanda grabbed his coat and walked out of the door.

"Yuu! Wait!" Lavi stumbled up. "Wait for me! Where are you going?"

"Outside, I'm going to look around."

"I'm coming with you!"

"No."

"Fine…" Lavi pouted. "Stupid Yuu, such a narcissus…" He grinned when he heard a low growl coming from the Japanese. 'Bingo!'

Kanda gave a 'che' and slammed the door behind him.

"Someone needs a temper management…" Lavi said to himself, chuckling.

* * *

**_December 25, Christmas Day._**

"Merry Christmas!"

"Urgh." She winced as someone yelled next to her ears. "What time is it…?" She glanced groggily at the nearby clock.

"Allen…"

"I can't sleep anymore!"

"It's five o clock…AM."

"But-"

"Get… some… sleep…" Linalee's voice trailed off as she pulled the blankets over her head.

Allen watched the girl drifted off to her dreamland and sniggered. It's Christmas, and it's also his birthday. Who can stay asleep on a day like this?

He looked back at the sleeping girl and decided to leave her alone. He thought about go knocking on Kanda's door right now just for the heck of it, but the Japanese probably have a thousand security cameras watching his every move... He won't want to risk that.

He regretted wrapping the presents the day before. Now he's bored to death.

With nothing to do, he walked over to his desk. The laptop turned on when he scanned his finger for the security check. He doesn't felt like hacking today. The little windows popped out and he closed them all. Maybe reading some news articles will help him catch up with some current events. He grinned at his plan and entered a web.

* * *

The sunlight gave a soft dim light through the gray cotton blinds. Linalee sat up.

'Christmas….' She thought, stretching. 'It's Christmas.'

She got out of her bed and walked to the blinds. In one pull, the gentle glow of sunlight brightened and poured into the room. She smiled. The sun was hovering high above the ocean. Few clouds gathered together in the sky, raining lightly. Walking back to her bed, Linalee reached down and groped around.

After a while, she pulled her hand out and looked down. A plastic bag was clutched in her grip. After making sure the door was locked, she sat down and took out boxes of presents. She grabbed the stack of silver and blue wrapping paper near her bed as her other hand reached for a scissor. After everything's set, Linalee began wrapping the presents.

"Linalee? Are you up yet?" Allen knocked on her door.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." She cut off a strip of ribbon and grinned. 'All done.'

Linalee took out Allen's present and placed the rest back into the bag. Carrying the bag and the present, she opened the door and walked outside.

"Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!" She grinned, handing the charmingly wrapped present to Allen.

Allen smiled, took the present from her, and placed a small rectangle box onto her hand.

"Merry Christmas to you too."

They sat down on the couch and opened their presents. Allen's face brightened after he unwrap the box. "Wow… I've been debating whether to buy a new watch or not, but now, you solved my problem!"

He hugged her warmly. "Thanks a lot, Linalee."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Linalee returned her attention back to the box. She slowly removed the gold wrapper and the gold ribbon.

"Hurry up! I'm hungry!" Allen whined.

Sighing, Linalee pulled off the cover in a quick motion. Her eyes widened at the object lying inside the box.

"Allen…"

"I know you like things that are useful to you." He frowned slightly. "I decided you need something to protect you since you're growing into a young beautiful woman, a common target for sexual predators."

Linalee fingered the metal little stick inside the box and smiled. "Interesting… I never knew you're this protective of me." She poked at the metal. "So what's this?"

"It's a stunner," Allen laughed sheepishly. "It's like a gun, but it's not powerful enough to kill."

She took the stunner out from the box and studied the little stick. "I'm sure this will become useful when there's trouble. Thank you so much!" She hugged him again.

"You're welcome." He glanced at the clock and whined. "It's almost one o clock!"

"Eh?!"

"Can we go eat now?"

"Allen, is food the only thing you can think?"

"When I'm hungry, yes." Allen grabbed her hand and pulled her out. "Let's go eat!"

"Sure." Linalee stuffed the remaining presents into her bag.

He opened the door and she walked out. "Thanks."

"Anything for m'lady." He joked, bowing deeply at her.

They found the nearest restaurant and walked into it. Linalee sat down in her seat while Allen sat down in his seat across from her.

After a waiter took their order, Linalee watched her friend fumbling with his little robot, which flew out from beneath his shirt.

"Timcanpy! Where were you?"

She watched Timcanpy landed on Allen's head. "You guys looked so cute!" She giggled.

"But-" He was cut off as Linalee hold out her glass of tea. "To you, Birthday-boy, and to us all." She watched Allen picked up his own glass of cider. "Merry Christmas."

"Cheers!"

The glass clinked together and they withdrew the glass back to their lips. The sweet bitter taste of the tea washed down her throat as she finished drinking.

Allen set the glass aside and watched a waiter stalked out from the kitchen. 'Akuma…' He thought, 'Come and think of it, every waiters and servers here are all Akumas...'

He dismissed the thought as a plate of food was set down in front of him.

"Please enjoy your meal."

"Thanks."

The Akuma walked back to the kitchen.

Linalee sighed. 'Akumas. They annoy me.'

She and Allen shook their heads and resumed their eating.

Neither of them realized a set of eyes were watching them.

* * *

Kanda scowled. A line of red appeared on his finger and he stuck it into his mouth. He accidentally cut himself while wrapping the presents. In front of him sat two professionally wrapped present. The third one was left half wrapped. A pair of scissor sat beside the third present. On the metal blade was slightly smudged with his blood.

He hated Christmas since the day he's born.

He finished wrapping his last present and placed them into a bag. As he closed his door behind him, he looked around. Lavi was nowhere to be found.

Just when he's about to open his closet, he heard a small snigger. Kanda's eyes narrowed. He opened the door and stepped aside. Lavi fell out from the closet, laughing.

"Stop laughing."

"I…can't…" Lavi's laughter grew louder as he rolled on the floor. "You look funny!"

Kanda's eyes twitched. What's so funny about his look?

"Look in…the…mirror…"

He glanced at the mirror and frown. His hair was messy. The bangs were sticking up in all direction, and his ebony mane was tangled in knots. A sudden realization hit him. He forgot to brush his hair.

Kanda glared at his laughing friend while running his fingers through his hair. A few minutes later, his hair returned to its normal sleek state. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a string and tied his hair into a low ponytail.

"There's nothing for you to laugh at now." He said, but Lavi laughed harder. "Stop laughing."

"…Can't…"

"If you don't stop, you won't get any present."

"Present?" The laughing immediately stopped. "For me?"

Kanda tossed a box at the redhead. "Che."

"Thanks, Yuu!" Lavi reached behind his back and pulled out a big brown box. "Merry Christmas to you, too!" Kanda stared at the box in his hand while his friend happily opened his own.

"Yuu?"

"Hn."

"Is this a joke?"

"Why?"

Lavi hold out an identical looking laptop like Kanda's state-of-the-art laptop. "Who would give laptop out on Christmas?"

"If you don't like it, I'll be happy to take it back."

"NO!" Lavi clutched the machine protectively. "You aian't taking this away from me!"

"Then stop complaining."

"I'm not! I'm just shock…and happy. How do you know I want a laptop like yours?"

"Che. An idiot like you is easy to read."

Lavi sat down, cross leg. He watched his friend studied the package in his hand. "Are you going to open the present?"

Without a word, Kanda opened the box and took out its content.

It's an hourglass, but instead of sand, it's replaced with some silvery liquid. "This…"

"It's mercury. The maker of this hourglass specially made the mercury stayed in its liquid state so it won't harden."

Kanda tipped the hourglass upside down and watched the liquid dripped down to the other side.

"Interesting…"

"Glad to hear that."

"Hn."

"It's almost six." Lavi glanced at the clock. "The Christmas party is starting soon. Shall we go now?"

"Yes."

Kanda placed the hourglass onto his table. Giving it one last look, he turned and walked out with Lavi.

* * *

They found Allen standing near the door, playing with Timcanpy.

"Where's Linalee?" Lavi asked, looking around for the girl.

"She went back to get something." Allen looked up, grinning. "She's getting the presents."

Lavi laughed. "And we'll wait for her."

They gathered to a corner in the back. While they're waiting, people poured into the hall nonstop.

"Is everybody on the ship attending this Christmas party?" Allen asked, watching the people walking by. The ladies dressed up in long elegant dresses, while the men dressed up in their tux. 'They looked so formal…' Allen thought, but he doesn't mind. He can blend in just fine in his white silk chemise. He glanced at his friends and found Lavi wearing a blood red chemise while Kanda's wearing a black one. Except Kanda had a long black coat on.

"Hn."

"What happened to the chairs and tables?"

"It's kind of like prom." Lavi answered for Kanda. "Y'know, those kinds where people just stand, eats their food, dance, chat, and etc... But there are still some chairs in the back and on the sides. "

The lights dimmed as people finish pouring in and gathered. No sign of Linalee yet.

"Why is she so slow?" Lavi asked worriedly. "She's probably the only one that's not here yet."

"I don't know…" Allen glanced at the door, hoping to find his friend coming in.

"She'll be here." Kanda said, watching Cross giving his speech in boredom. He felt a little ting of anxious feeling burning inside him.

After Cross finished his speech on Christmas, everybody spread all over the room. Loud music played over the chattering of the people. Still no sign of Linalee.

Kanda turned and found his friends missing. Where the hell are they?

Annoyed and frustrated, Kanda sighed. After making sure no one's looking, he quietly slid out of the door.

* * *

Linalee stepped out of her suite and closed the door. She knew she's running late for the party, but she need to get the presents and change into a more formal dress.

'I should have brought them with me earlier…' She sighed.

She walked down the long corridor, hoping to make it in time for the party… She stopped.

A little girl was sitting against the wall, face buried in her knees and arms. Her short spiky hair caught Linalee's attention. It's rare to see little girls with short spiky hair. The girl wore a black and white dress, and a little red ribbon was tied around her neck.

Linalee blinked. Why is there a little girl here without her parents? Shouldn't everybody suppose to be at the party…? She ditched the thought as she approached up to the girl.

"Excuse me? Are you lost?" 'The party can wait, helping this little girl is more important.'

The girl looked up, teary eyes. "I can't find my cat."

Linalee blinked. "Your cat?"

"Lelo ran away when I wasn't paying attention. Now he's gone." She sniffed.

"Don't worry. I'll help you find Lelo." Linalee put on a smile. "And I'll take you back to your parents after we find your cat."

"Okay!" The girl grinned. Linalee noticed the girl have a pair of fangs, but she made no comment about that.

The moon was hidden behind a sheet of thin clouds as they walked out. Rain drifted down from the clouds, but not enough to drench them wet. They arrived to the main deck. Linalee noted the whole deck was emptied. In the crow's nest was probably an Akuma.

She decided to break the silence.

"What's your name?"

The girl looked up. "I'm Road."

"Road?" 'Strange name…' Linalee let the name slowly sank into her mind. "You can call me Linalee."

"Linalee." Road smiled. "I'll remember that."

Linalee shivered. She doesn't know why, but the smile just made her shiver. Maybe it's just the cold. She looked down at her own dress. It was a long black halter dress. Small pieces of diamonds were imbedded on the cloth tied around her neck. Thin metal chains were tied around her stomach as a belt. But that's not the point.

Hell, its cold. She's wearing a dress with no sleeve. She's standing outside on the deck when she's suppose to attend to the party. She's freezing.

A small mewing sound caught her attention. 'Cat…?'

Linalee walked to the direction of the mewing as it grew louder. "Lelo?"

The mewing continued. Soon, Linalee arrived to a huge gap on the deck. 'A cockpit…?' She thought. 'Why is it open?' Her train of thoughts stopped when the mewing grew frantic. "Lelo? Hang in there."

She took out a small flashlight in from her purse and opened it. A beam of bright light shot out from the bulb as she shined it down into the pit. A small gray ball of fur was curled up at the bottom of the pit. 'That must be Lelo…'

It must be at least 25 feet down. Linalee sighed. "Road? I think I found Lelo!"

No reply. Road is nowhere in sight.

'Where's that girl?'

"Road?"

Linalee heard a small scratching sound and turned. But before she can turn her body around fully, she felt a light push against her back. She felt her body fell forward into the pit.

In a quick reflex, Linalee turned her body around and reached up. Her hand caught the edge of the deck. She was glad that she took fencing class in her early years. Fencing had taught her to become very flexible like a cat. She trembled slightly as she reached her other hand up, holding on to the deck. She tried to move her legs, but the dress refused to let them move freely.

'Damn.'

Her hands grew wet as the rain and sweat gathered. Linalee's eyes widened as she felt her body slowly began to slide downwards. She looked down and saw the cat was still mewing. Her flashlight was laid by the cat. It fell when she was pushed.

"Help!" She yelled, but she knew it's a waste of her breath and energy. Everybody's inside, partying. Nobody can hear her except for the ocean. 'This is bad.' She thought as her hands slowly betrayed her.

She was too upset to hear anything. The sound of light footsteps ran towards her as her hands gave up. Her grip loosened against the wooden deck, and she plunged down to the pit. Linalee shut her eyes as she began to fall.

Something caught her wrist and the fall stopped.

Linalee felt her body dangled in the air as she looked up. She smiled.

"Kanda!"

"Stay calm and don't move." He said quietly.

Earlier, he was searching for her when he heard a cry. Deciding saving whoever's in trouble is more important to look for someone, he went outside. To his surprise, he found Linalee hanging on to her life on the deck. He ran to her, praying that she can hold on long enough. Just when he reached to Linalee, her grip loosened and she fell. He dived at her and sighed in relief when his hand caught her wrist.

"Don't panic."

"I-"

"Listen to me closely." He looked down at her. "Relax your body, and I'll pull you up."

Linalee forced herself to breathed out and slowly to relax.

"Good, now grab my hand." She reached up and closed her hands around his.

Kanda sighed. His body was lying on the deck, and the upper half of his body was hovering over the dark pit. It's a lot harder than he expected.

Forcing himself to focus, he slowly stood up. While he's balancing his body, he failed to notice a figure behind him.

Kanda's eyes widened when he felt something shove against his back. He fell forward as Linalee's scream pierced through the cold silent air.

He pulled her body against him as they plummeted down into the dark. In one twist, he forced his body to go beneath hers and pain immediately shot through him.

* * *

Allen and Lavi stared at the man standing in front of them. He was tall. His skin was tanned, and his hair was slightly curled. He claimed himself to be called "Tiki".

Tiki had dragged them away from Kanda when the party started. He began talking about some business things that Allen swore he had never heard of. Why is he involved? Maybe this guy got him mixed up with Kanda.

"Er, Mr. Tiki-' He began.

"Just call me Tiki." The man laughed.

"Tiki, can't we talk some other times?"

"No."

Lavi and Allen raised their eyebrows. Tiki quickly clamp his mouth shut and sighed. He answered too quickly.

"I meant, I don't think I have any other opportunities to meet Mr. Kanda and his assistant, Mr. Lavi."

"But-"

"Mr, Kanda, can you please tell me what you did to become this successful?"

"I'm not Kanda." Allen said, eye twitching. "I'm just a friend."

Tiki's eyes widened. "You're not…?"

"I'm Allen, but he's still Lavi."

"Shit!" They jumped as Tiki cursed. "Damn. Thank you for your time, see you guys some other time!" He quickly bowed at the two and ran off, mixing in with the crowds.

"What was that?" Allen asked watching the spot where Tiki stood last.

"I don't know." Lavi scratched his head as he turned around. "But Yuu's gone."

"Eh?! Where did he go?"

"I think he's just getting some food…?"

"I thought Kanda rarely eat."

"My bad."

"Argh!" Allen ran his fingers through his hair. "First Linalee, and now Kanda too!"

"Let's go look for them."

They ran to the door, but an Akuma appeared in front of them. "I'm sorry, but you can't leave now."

"Why?" Allen questioned, frustration and annoyance slowly found their way into his mind.

"That's my order. I'm sorry, but no one can leave until the party ends."

Lavi and Allen looked at each other. They can't destroy the Akuma just to get outside. Plus, no one can leave the party until it end, so Kanda probably was still inside the room. In a sigh of defeat, they moved away from the door.

"We'll go look for Linalee when we get out."

"Yeah…But I'm worry." Allen admitted, bowing his head slightly. "Cheer up, kid." Lavi slapped him on the back. "We'll go look for Yuu first, and then we'll think of something after."

"Yeah…"

Giving the door one last look, Allen turned around.

* * *

Linalee slowly got back to her feet. Her body was slightly sore as she moved across the darkness.

"How am I supposed to get out…?" She muttered, looking up. The deck seemed a lot farther up than she thought. The rain continued dripping down as she grumbled.

"The help will come eventually." A voice answered.

"Kanda!" She forgot about him. "Are you all right?"

"Hn." Kanda leaned against the wall. His whole body was hurting like hell, and his wrist was stinging in pain. He gently touched his wrist, and the pain grew worse.

He sprained his wrist.

The Japanese forced his breath to even out. He doesn't want to worry her. He gripped his injured wrist and tried his best to look normal.

Linalee found her way to him and knelt down in front him. "Are you injured? Can you move?" She asked, worried.

"I'm okay."

"But you took the fall…Are you really okay?"

"Hn."

Linalee sighed. She suddenly remembered that she's carrying her link'… maybe she can call for help. She took out the little communicator from her bag and opened it. To her dismay, there's no sign of it telling her that it's on. 'It broke…' She sighed and threw the link' aside.

He looked at her, confused, as she walked around the pit. Suddenly, she stopped, knelt down, and picked up something.

"What are you doing?" He asked wearily watching her ran back to him. "What is that?"

"It's a cat." She said quietly. "A robot cat."

"…"

"Earlier, on my way to the party, this little girl, Road, asked me to help find her cat." Linalee sighed. "We went to the deck, and I heard the cat mewing and came here. I saw the cat, but the girl was gone. Then I felt something pushed me and I fell."

"…Where is the girl now?"

"I don't know…"

'That girl must have pushed both Linalee and me.' He thought, annoyed. 'Probably some little kid pranks…damn it.' He gritted his teeth in pain. He swore if he ever finds the parents of the child, he will make sure he gives them a piece of his mind.

"Kanda?" He snapped back to reality and found Linalee looking at him. "There's light from the moon." She said happily. "We won't be in the dark after all."

"Yeah…"

Linalee sat down next to him. She felt the slight warmth coming off from his body and she huddled closer. The air got colder as she shivered. Not that she's complaining. She actually liked the feeling, except for the part where she's freezing to death.

"Are you hurt?" She broke her train of thoughts and looked at him.

"No." Linalee grinned. "You protected me."

Kanda sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. He felt her body cuddled closer as he continued sitting. A small trembling made him frown. He looked down at the girl and realized that she's wearing a bareback and sleeveless dress.

Without saying a word, he removed his coat and draped it around her body. She looked up in surprise.

"Kanda…"

"I'm fine."

"No." Linalee moved half of the coat around his shoulder. She moved closer to him and put the other half of the coat around her shoulder. "We're even now."

Under the pale moonlight, she swore she saw a small grin graced across the Japanese's lips. She felt her stomach fluttered and her face slowly turned hot. She brought her knees up to her chest. The heat Kanda's body gave off warmed her up. Unconsciously, Linalee snuggled closer, seeking for more warmth.

She watched the rain slowly disappeared as the air got unspeakably cold and shivered. Small white dots appeared before them. She reached out to the cold and watched the dots landed on her hand.

"It's snowing." She muttered.

Kanda watched her closed her hand and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry." She suddenly said.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry of."

"But you won't be like this if I didn't fall into this pit."

"It's not your fault."

"But-"

"'But' is not an answer." Kanda said quietly, looking into her eyes.

Linalee sighed. "I know, but still… I'm sorry."

He was about to say something when she placed her fingers on his lips. "Please." She pleaded, "Just accept my apology."

Kanda's face softened and turned back facing the front. He heard her moving next to him, and found a box was placed in his lap.

"Joyeux Noel, Kanda" She turned to him, watching his face. "Merry Christmas."

Kanda reached into his pocket and brought out a present. Without saying a word, he put the box by her.

She looked at the box and back at him questionably. He sighed. "Merry Christmas."

He immediately knew he did the right thing because Linalee's face broke into a grin. Neither of them said a word as she edged closer to him. Her arms found their way around his body and he felt the coat fell off. He suddenly found himself surrounded by gentle warmth. He looked down and saw Linalee's head against his chest. A soft scent of lavender drifted into his nose. He closed his eyes.

Slowly, he circled his arms around her meager body. With a tug, he pulled her onto his lap. He reached out with his good arm and grabbed the coat. Linalee looked up at him curiously. He wrapped the coat around both of them and sat back. She leaned back against his chest with her back and her head rested under his chin. They no longer felt the harsh cold anymore.

"It's warm." She muttered.

"Hn." Kanda looked down at his injured wrist and tried to move it. Pain shot through his arm once again.

"This is the most remarkable Christmas I ever had."

He silently agreed with her.

"I can feel the sleep overcome…" Her voice trailed off.

"Don't sleep."

"Why?"

"It's not good for you to sleep in the cold."

"I'm not cold."

"…"

"You're here with me." She turned her head up to him. "We have enough body heat to keep each other warm."

"Hn."

Linalee reached out and grabbed the presents. "Why don't we kill some time by opening our presents?"

He took the present from her. Eyeing the box with interest, he slowly peeled the wrapper off. A glass box appeared beneath the wrappers. It was the size of his palm, small enough to stuff it in his coat. Inside the glass box was a crystal lotus.

"What is this?"

"A memory box."

"…?"

Linalee stifled a giggle while taking the box from him. She picked up her flashlight and placed it under the box. "In my college years, a friend taught me how to print pictures onto crystals." She turned on the flashlight.

Kanda watched in amazement as the light seeped through the crystal and small illumination shot out from the glassy pedals. He looked up.

"This…"

He suddenly found the whole dark pit lit up with the dim pictures of illuminations. All those pictures are their childhood pictures.

"I found some of our old pictures from childhood and carved it into the pedals." She grinned. "It took me a few hours to make this… it's not as easy as it looks."

"You made this."

"Mm hm." She looked up at him. "Do you like it?"

He didn't reply. She looked at him and smiled. The look in his eyes was enough to tell her everything.

She opened the small wooden box in her hands and found a thin piece of black wood lying in it. Looking more closely, she noticed little holes lined up in the wood. A metal piece covered the larger hole near the top of the wood. It's a piccolo.

"How do you know I play piccolo?"

"I just know."

"It's beautiful." She picked it up.

Placing the mouthpiece beneath her lip, she blew slightly. A deep smooth sound came out from it. Closing her eyes, she began to play.

Kanda watched her as a lone melody surrounded the air around them. Her fingers flew across the little piece of wood. He knew he got the right present. After all, it took him a while to carve the wood, and polished it. Drilling the holes was harder than he expected, but he managed. Adding the metal mouthpiece was the final touch. He felt the flutter came back.

The smooth sound suddenly stopped and he looked up. Blinding lights appeared on the top of the pit as the sound of people talking grew louder.

"Yuu? Linalee?" It was Lavi.

"How did you guys get all the way down there?" And Allen.

"The help is here!" Linalee jumped up, gathering her present and her bag.

"Yeah."

She reached out her hand to him. "Let's go."

Looking at her hand, he placed his uninjured hand onto hers and stood up. He turned off the flashlight and placed the glass box back into the wrapper.

A ladder was lowered into the pit and they climbed up.

"Linalee!" When they got back up to the deck, Allen launched himself at her. "You're okay!" He hugged her tightly.

"You don't have to worry." She laughed, and noticed someone standing behind them. "Miranda?"

"Ms. Linalee." The woman ran up to them. "I'm so glad you're not hurt!"

"Why are you here?"

"I-"

"She was helping us." Allen grinned.

"I see... Thank you." Linalee reached over to the woman's hand and shook it.

Kanda watched them and turned around.

"Yuu." He felt Lavi placed his hand on his shoulder. "You want to go back?"

"Hn…"

"Let's go." Kanda followed his redhead friend and felt his vision blurred. The pain came back to him as he sank to his knees. "Yuu?"

He gritted his teeth.

"Are you okay? Kanda?" Linalee and Allen ran to him.

"Kanda!"

"Mr. Kanda!"

He forced himself to look up and found her eyes watching him filled with worry. He closed his eyes.

"Kanda!"

The last thing he heard was her voice, calling his name.

**TBC**

* * *

A/N: 26 pages… TWENTY SIX PAGES! WHOOT! That's a lot! Tell me if you guys like this chapter or not! Once again, please review this story to keep it going!

It's just like buying lunch with money… y'know…. Jkjkjk!! XD

Thanks for reading, hope you guys won't give up on this story, and sorry for the SLOW UPDATE!


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